The present invention relates to an air intake apparatus for an internal combustion engine and in particular to an air intake apparatus for an internal combustion engine wherein a rotation force transmission structure to an opening and closing valve of an air intake apparatus.
As to techniques relating to the above stated technique, the techniques are described in Japanese application patent laid-open publication No. Sho 60-224924, Japanese application patent laid-open publication No. Hei 6-81719, Japanese application patent laid-open publication No. Hei 6-81735, and Japanese application patent laid-open publication No. Hei 8-170536, etc.
In a construction shown in FIG. 2 of Japanese application patent laid-open publication No. Sho 60-224924, by rotating a substantially cylindric shape surge tank since a position of an opening portion of an air intake conduit is varied and further since a length of the air intake conduit is varied, an output torque of an internal combustion engine can be heightened by utilizing an air intake inertia effect.
In a construction shown in FIG. 33 of Japanese application patent laid-open publication No. Hei 6-81719 or in a construction shown in FIG. 3 of Japanese application patent laid-open publication No. Hei 6-81735, an opening and closing valve is provided at a midway of an air intake conduit, when an internal combustion engine rotates at a low speed rotation, by closing the opening and closing valve a length of the air intake conduit is made long and then an output torque during the low speed rotation of the internal combustion engine is heightened.
In a construction shown in Japanese application patent laid-open publication No. Hei 8-170536, within two air intake conduits having respectively a different length, at an air intake passage of an intermediate portion of one air intake conduit having a short length a cylindrical shape shielding mechanism is provided. And in response to a rotation number of an internal combustion engine since the shielding mechanism is opened or closed, and further by employing only another air intake conduit having a long length or by employing the above stated both two air intake conduits, an increase in a flow passage cross-sectional area is selected, as a result an output torque of the internal combustion engine is heightened.
In each of the above stated prior arts, to aim to heighten the output torque utilizing the inertia effect of the intake air in the internal combustion engine, the length of the air intake conduit or the flow passage cross-sectional area is varied. And to vary the length of the air intake conduit or to vary the flow passage cross-section area, a butterfly shape valve or a cylindrical shape opening and closing valve is used.
The butterfly shape valve comprises a flat plate shape valve main body and a rotating shaft and the valve main body and the rotating shaft are manufactured separately or independently and this valve main body and this rotating shaft are combined with screw members etc. The rotating shaft has a long and slender rod shape, to this rotating shaft plural butterfly shape valves are installed. To prevent an obstruction of a rotation sliding operation due to a bending deformation of the rotating shaft, not only bearing member is provided to both ends of the rotating shaft but also a bearing member is provided between the butterfly shape valve and the another butterfly shape valve.
To install the above stated construction having the valve main body and the bearing members to a midway of the air intake conduit of an air intake apparatus for the internal combustion engine, since the air intake conduit is necessary to form with two-divisional construction or two separated constitution there is an afraid of a lowering of a dimension accuracy in the air intake apparatus on an assembly performance.
On the other hand, in the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve in the air intake apparatus for the internal combustion engine, an opening portion which penetrates to a radial direction of a cylinder is provided on the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve, a valve portion is constituted by the opening portion and another portion except for the opening portion. By rotating this opening portion, the intake air which passes through the opening portion is discontinued.
With the above stated mechanism, a whole peripheral portion of the cylinder of the internal combustion engine becomes a rotating shaft, a bending deformation of the rotating shaft in the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve is smaller than that of the rotating shaft of the butterfly shape valve, further since a shaft portion and the valve portion are manufactured integrally, there is a merit in which the manufacturing is easily.
Further, by employing an assembling method in which a hole portion for inserting the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve is manufactured integrally to an axial direction at a part of the air intake conduit of the air intake apparatus for the internal combustion engine and the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve is inserted to this hole portion, it is unnecessary to divide two parts the air intake conduit as the case of the butterfly shape valve, accordingly a lowering in a dimension accuracy of the air intake apparatus for the internal combustion engine in a radial direction which is accompanied by the assembling working can be avoided.
In a construction of the air intake apparatus for the internal combustion engine shown in Japanese application patent laid-open publication No. Hei 8-170536, one end of a cylindrical shape opening and closing valve is contacted to a small hole portion which is provided at a bottom of a hole portion and also using a spring member the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve is added with an axial direction force to come off from this small hole portion of the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve.
However, in the above stated prior arts, there is no consideration about a relationship between a direction of the rotating shaft of the connection member for connecting the rotating mechanism for rotating the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve and the cylindrical shape opening and closing shaft and a direction of the rotating shaft of the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve. As a result, between the above stated directions since a divergence, namely an inclination exists, there is a possibility in which the rotation becomes to present non-smoothly.
The inventors of the present invention have filed a prior patent application about an air intake apparatus for an internal combustion engine in which the problems not solved in the above stated prior arts can be solved, as a prior patent application (at the present patent filing time, the above stated prior patent application is not laid-opened and does not form the prior art against the present patent application). Namely, in the prior patent application, the connection member for the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve and the rotating mechanism is contacted to the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve through a ball like member.
Even the inclination (the divergence) exists between the direction of the rotating shaft of the connection member for connecting the rotating mechanism which rotates the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve and the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve and the direction of the rotating shaft of the cylindrical shape opening and closing valve, since the ball like member works as one kind of a ball joint mechanism, the rotation can be transmitted smoothly.
An object of the present invention resides in that, the problems which have not been solved in the prior arts can be solved, namely when an inclination exists between an axial direction of a rotating shaft for rotating a cylindrical shape opening and closing valve and an axial direction of a drive shaft a rotating motion can be transmitted smoothly, and the object of the present invention to provide an air intake apparatus for an internal combustion engine wherein a simple construction, an easy manufacturing, a low cost air intake apparatus for the internal combustion engine can be provided.
Further, another object of the present invention is to provide an air intake apparatus for an internal combustion engine wherein a durability in the air intake apparatus can be heightened by carrying out a position regulation against to a thrust direction of a drive shaft.
A sphere portion which is provided at a tip end portion of a shaft portion of one of the rotating shaft and the drive shaft or an input shaft (in this application, it is called as the drive shaft) is inserted to a cup member which is provided at a tip end portion of another shaft of one of the rotating shaft and the drive shaft, and a projection portion of one of the rotating shaft and the drive shaft is engaged with a faucet portion which is provided at the tip end portion of the another shaft of the rotating shaft and the drive shaft and then a universal joint is constituted. According to these constructions, a welding working and a shaving-off working can be became unnecessary.
Further, a position regulation of a thrust direction of the drive shaft is attained that the drive shaft and a ball bearing member are inserted under pressure and fixed, and after the ball bearing member has inserted to a resin housing, in accordance with a stopping operation due to a spring force by a stopper ring and a bite-in of the stopper ring to the resin housing, then the ball bearing member is fixed to the resin housing. According to this construction, by the stopper ring having the spring operation the ball bearing member can be fixed to the resin housing.
In concretely, the present invention can provide following air intake apparatus apparatuses for the internal combustion engine.
The present invention can provide that an air intake apparatus for an internal combustion engine comprises an opening and closing valve for shielding the air intake supplied to an internal combustion engine, a rotating shaft installed to the opening and closing valve as one body, a drive shaft for rotating the rotating shaft, a connection portion for connecting the rotating shaft and the drive shaft and for transmitting a move from the drive shaft to the rotating shaft.
The air intake apparatus for the internal combustion eigne wherein on an end portion of one of the rotating shaft and the drive shaft, a sphere portion and a projection portion are formed, on another end portion of one of the rotating shaft and the drive shaft, a cup portion and a faucet portion are formed, and the sphere portion is inserted into the cup portion and further the projection portion is engaged with the faucet portion, thereby a universal joint is formed. Preferably, an inner portion of the above stated faucet portion is formed with a dent shape, and further an outer portion of the above stated projection portion is formed with a raise portion.
Preferably, the above stated drive shaft is provided in the resin housing, and to the above stated drive shaft a ball bearing member is fixed, and to the resin housing a part of the ball bearing member is stopped, and further the ball bearing member is fixed to the above stated resin housing by a stopper ring having a spring operation.
The present invention provides an air intake apparatus for an internal combustion engine in which the above stated drive shaft is provided in the resin housing, a shaft portion of the above stated opening and closing valve and the above stated drive shaft are connected with a universal joint construction, to the above stated drive shaft a ball bearing member is fixed, and to the above stated resin housing a part of the ball bearing member is stopped, and further the above stated ball bearing member is fixed to the above stated resin housing by a stopper ring having a spring operation.